Feral

Animals
Not Local to Country

Barrit & May

Ian Morris

www.nt.gov.au/feralanimals
What are feral
animals?

Feral buffalo do not belong to country

Feral animals are not local to country. Many feral

animals were brought to Australia on boats by
white man.

These feral animals were brought to Australia a

long time ago for food and to help with labour.

Many of these feral animals are all over Australia

including our islands.

Some of the feral animals we are worried about

in the Northern Territory are buffalo, camels,
donkeys, horses, cats, wild dogs, cane toads,
foxes, rabbits, black rats and exotic ants.

Feral animals
escaped onto
country and
became wild. Cane toads do not belong to country
 What are feral
Why are
animals?
local animals
important?
The Northern Territory is home to many local animals so it is important to look after them.

All local animals are linked together and each is important to country.

Many animals are used as food for Aboriginal communities but feral animals don’t
belong to country and kill country.

Simon Ward
Ian Morris

Northern quoll is local and cane Mala is local and has been Northern hopping mouse might
toads can poison them eaten by foxes disappear because feral cats eat them

We can help our local animals by

getting rid of feral animals.
This will leave healthy country and food
for our children and our grandchildren.
Feral camels
Feral camels are bad for country because they:
• Crush native plants and damage soil
• Walk over large areas, spreading weeds wherever they go
Where camels are living
• Walk through fences
• Walk through sacred sites
• Walk onto roads where they might be hit by cars and buses
• Eat large amounts of native grass which leaves nothing for the local animals to eat
• Have hard hooves which destroy the edges of billabongs when they get a drink

What will happen if we don’t stop feral camels?

• Local animals will die
• Native grass and bush tucker will die out
• The water in billabongs and rivers won’t be as good to drink
• Sacred sites will be trampled
• Disease might be spread to local animals

Tourism NT

Feral camels walk through fences Feral camels eat large amounts of local grass
There are too many feral camels in the Northern Territory

What can you do?

• Look out for camel tracks, especially in the sand
• Help and support Parks and Wildlife officers to remove camels

What are we doing?

• We muster live feral camels and sell them
• In places that are hard to get to we reduce the number of camels in other ways

If we don’t stop feral camels now,

native grass and bush tucker
might die out

Feral camel hooves damage the ground

Feral buffalo
Feral buffalo are bad for country because they:
• Spread weeds
• Trample through floodplains and muck up the water. This makes it
harder for local animals to drink the water and live there Where buffalo are living

• Eat grass that local animals eat

• Spread disease to other animals
• Wallow in water on floodplains, causing mud holes and ripping up plants

What will happen if we don’t stop feral buffalo?

• Native animals will have less clean water to drink or to live in
• Water won’t be as good to drink
• Local animals will die
• There will be less bush tucker and fish for people to eat
• Disease might be spread to local animals
• Floodplains might change from fresh water to salt water
• Floodplains will have lots more weeds which can’t be eaten by local people

Feral buffalo damage water holes

Feral buffalo trample the ground

What can you do?

• Look out for signs of buffalo and let Parks and Wildlife officers know if you see any
• Help support Parks and Wildlife officers to remove buffalo from areas where they are
causing lots of damage

What are we doing?

• We are reducing the number of buffalo by removing them
• We are writing a plan about how to get rid of buffalo from the Northern Territory

If we don’t get rid of feral buffalo now,

they will cause mud holes
and kill local plants

Feral buffalo cause mud holes

Feral horses
and donkeys
Feral horses and donkeys are bad for country Where horses are living

because they:
• Trample on grass and plants and kill them
• Spread weeds
• Eat native grasses which local animals eat
• Have hard hooves that break up river banks and billabongs,
and muck up the water
• Run through fences and other human structures
• Damage sacred sites

Where donkeys are living

Feral horses and donkeys trample on grass and plants, and damage country
Feral horses and donkeys have hard hooves

What will happen if we don’t stop feral horses and donkeys?

• Native animals will not have enough food to eat
• Water will be mucked up
• Weeds will spread into new areas
• Sacred sites may be damaged or ruined

What can you do?

• Watch out for signs of horses and donkeys and let Parks and Wildlife officers know
• Help support Parks and Wildlife to remove horses and donkeys

What are we doing?

• We are reducing the number of feral horses and donkeys in places where there
are lots of local plants and local animals

If we don’t stop feral horses and

donkeys now, they will trample the
soil and eat our native animals’ food

Feral donkeys Feral horses

Feral pigs
Feral pigs are bad for country because they:
• Wallow in water causing mud holes and ripping up plants
• Spread weeds
• Muck up the water which makes it hard for local animals to Where pigs are living
drink the water and live there
• Eat small animals and plants which belong to country
• Eat other animals’ food
• Spread disease to animals and people
• Dig up the soil looking for food which destroys the homes of other animals

What will happen if we don’t stop feral pigs?

• There will be less clean water for native animals to drink or live in
• Water won’t be as good for people to drink
• There will be less bush tucker for people
• Disease might be spread to animals and people

Feral pigs make mud holes

Feral pigs

What can you do?

• Watch out for signs of pigs, especially around billabongs
• Help support Parks and Wildlife officers to remove pigs

What are we doing?

• We are removing feral pigs by baited trapping and poison

If we don’t get rid of feral pigs now,

our local animals might disappear

Feral pigs damage country

 Wild dogs
and foxes
Wild dogs and foxes are bad for country because they: Where dogs are living
• Attack cattle and farm animals
• Attack and eat local animals

Wild dogs are also bad because they:

• Breed with dingoes which are local animals

What will happen if we don’t stop dogs and foxes?

• Local animals will disappear
• Cattle production will be reduced
Where foxes are living
• Disease might spread to local animals and people
NSW Department of Primary Industries

Barritt & May

Foxes eat local animals Wild dogs breed with dingoes

What can you do?

• Tie up pet dogs or keep them in a yard
• Keep pet dogs away from other dogs
• Help support Parks and Wildlife officers
to bait and trap wild dogs and foxes
If we don’t stop
wild dogs and
What are we doing?
• We remove wild dogs and foxes
foxes now, they
by poisoning them will kill our local
• We have written a plan to get rid of wild dogs
in the Northern Territory animals
 Feral cats
Feral cats are bad for country because they:
• Eat small animals
• Eat other animals’ food
• Spread diseases to other animals Where cats are living

What will happen if we don’t stop feral cats?

• Local animals will disappear

What can you do?

• Keep house cats locked up at night
• Support Parks and Wildlife officers to bait or trap feral cats
• Don’t take cats to islands

What are we doing?

• Removing cats is very hard and we are working on a plan to get rid of cats on our islands
Fredy Mercay/ANTPhoto.com

Feral cats kill local animals

If we don’t get rid of feral cats now,

they will eat our local animals
Cane toads
Cane toads are bad for country because they:
• Eat lots of insects which is also food for local animals
• Take the homes of native frogs, toads and reptiles
• Spread diseases to other animals Where cane toads are living

• Are poisonous

What will happen if we don’t stop cane toads?

• Local animals may disappear

What can you do?

• Don’t leave buckets of water around your backyard
• Support Parks and Wildlife officers to trap cane toads

What are we doing?

• We are working to keep our offshore islands cane toad free
Ian Morris

Ian Morris

Cane toads poison local animals

If we don’t stop cane toads now,

our local animals might die of poison
Rabbits
Rabbits are bad for country because they:
• Eat other animals’ food
• Dig up the soil which destroys the homes of other animals
• Eat lots of native grasses leaving no food for local animals Where rabbits are living

NSW Department of Primary Industries

Brian Cooke
Rabbits eat the grass that local animals need

What will happen if we don’t stop rabbits?

• There will be no grass left for other animals to eat

What can you do?

• Support Parks and Wildlife officers to bait or trap rabbits

What are we doing?

• We get rid of rabbits by removing their warrens, giving
them poison, shooting or trapping them

If we don’t get rid of rabbits now,

there will be less food for our local
animals to eat
Black rats
Black rats are bad for country because they:
• Eat other animals’ food
• Live near humans and may come inside your home looking
for food and shelter
Where black rats are living
• Eat the eggs of native birds and lizards

What will happen if we don’t stop black rats?

• Local animals will disappear

What can you do?

• Get rid of all rubbish from around your house
• Don’t leave dog or cat food outside for rats to eat
• Support Parks and Wildlife officers to trap black rats

What are we doing?

• We are learning more about black rats so we know how to get rid of them
• We are writing a plan to remove black rats in the Northern Territory

If we don’t remove black rats now,

they might eat our animals or spread
diseases to our animals
Ian McCann/ANTPhoto.com

Black rats eat food and find shelter in your home

Exotic ants
Exotic ants are bad for country because they:
• Take over the homes of native ants
• Eat insects which is also food for local ants
• Can sting you
Where exotic ants are living
• Don’t spread native seeds like local ants
Alex Wild

Entamology Section DRDPIFR

Brian Thiselton
Exotic ants such as the big-headed ant, the yellow crazy ant and the ginger ant are found in the Territory

What will happen if we don’t stop exotic ants?

• There won’t be any native ants to help our local plants and seeds grow

What can you do?

• Don’t move soil and plants to other areas
• Hose mud and dirt from trucks, tractors and cars if you are travelling a long way
• Support Parks and Wildlife officers to trap or bait exotic ants

What are we doing?

• We have been learning more about exotic ants and the damage they cause
• We are working on a rescue plan to stop exotic ants killing our local ants

If we don’t stop exotic ants now,

there won’t be any native ants
to help seeds grow
If we remove feral animals
we will have healthy country
for our children
Thank you to the following people for providing photographs:
Alex Wild Fredy Mercay
ANT Photo Library Ian McCann
Barritt & May Ian Morris
Brian Thistleton NSW Department of Primary Industries
Brian Cooke Simon Ward
Entomology Section DRDPIFR Skyscans
Tourism NT

To get more information contact:

Northern Territory Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport
Parks and Wildlife NT
Ph: 08 8995 5008
www.nt.gov.au/feralanimals

Published by the Northern Territory Government in September 2009